Although rising protectionism and persistent uncertainty in the global economy are putting pressure on the industrial and supply chains and weighing on trade prospects for economies including Canada and China, multilateral platforms such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) offer a way for countries to keep cooperation alive, said David Perez-Des Rosiers, director of the Beijing Chapter of the Canada China Business Council (CCBC).
Perez-Des Rosiers' comments come as Canada pushes to broaden its trade relationships and as China and Canada move to stabilize ties following Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to China in January, when the two sides agreed to build a new strategic partnership and signed an economic and trade cooperation roadmap.
That roadmap sets out cooperation across eight areas, including energy, agri-food, advanced manufacturing, and economic and financial cooperation, spanning both traditional and emerging sectors.
Noting that Canada and China have both been advocates of multilateralism and that Canada is pursuing trade diversification, Perez-Des Rosiers said China will be a significant partner in those efforts.
"Canada and China have been both advocates of multilateralism. Canada is looking at diverse trade diversification. We do believe China will be a significant partner in those efforts. Their recent engagement and the recent announcement by both governments have created more opportunities for engagements both for CCBC but also for businesses on both sides. And that has helped create a more stable or predictable environment, which has been very welcome by our members. We do believe that having bilateral engagement is also a great way to engage in significant discussions in terms of finding new ways of economic cooperation, finding new ways as well as advancing respective interests in key sectors such as energy, agri-food, consumer products, also financial services," Perez-Des Rosiers said.
He pointed to clean technology as a standout area of complementarity, with Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises holding cutting-edge know-how and Chinese firms bringing major industrial capacity, as both countries pursue ambitious zero-emission targets.
"Canada has a very cutting-edge technology in terms of clean tech, especially in SME, so small-medium enterprises. China has significant industrial capabilities, major companies in terms of clean tech advancements. Both countries want to reach zero emission. They have very ambitious targets. So we do see that there's a great environment to advance bilateral partnerships," said Perez-Des Rosiers.
The CCBC plans to take part in activities around the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen on Nov 18-19 to help Canadian businesses connect with Chinese counterparts and advance existing cooperation.
"I'm glad to share with you that CCBC will lead its first clean tech mission to China this year with stops in Guangdong, Shanghai and Beijing. So we're quite excited about being able to organize that first clean tech mission and try to find new opportunities for Canadian businesses here in China," said Perez-Des Rosiers.
Canada business council flags clean-tech, trade diversification as China ties warm
Canada business council flags clean-tech, trade diversification as China ties warm
